schnepel



April 20, 1954 D. v. scHNEPEL 2,675,741

BELT FEED LEVER FOR FIREARMS Original Filed Dec. l1, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l Z6 lux-Www lllllllllll/lll SWW/nim Emu H1115 V. E111-LEP El @MSM April 20, 1954 D. v. scHNEPEL 2,675,741

BELT FEED LEVER FOR FIRERMS Original Filed Dec. l1, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Il :11.151115 V Schl-Lapel Patented Apr. 20, 1954 EELT FEED LEVER FR FIEEARMS Douglas V. Schnepel, Pedro Miquel, Canal Zone, Panama (Granted under Title 2365(,i)... S. Code (1952),

2 Claims.

The invention described herein may be manu factured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a belt feed lever for firearms of the automatic type.

This application is a division of my application for Machine Gun, Serial No. 634,326, led December 1l, 1945 and now matured into U. S. Patent No. 2,594,354.

It is an object ofy this invention to provide an improved belt feed lever for rearms of the automatic type which is of simplied construction and positive in operation.

The specific nature of the invention as well as other yobjects and advantages thereof will clearly appear from a description of a preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of a irearm embodying this invention shown partly broken away to illustrate the beit feed lever.

Fig. 2 is a top view of Fig. 1 with the top of the cover broken away to show the belt feed lever cam and belt feed lever.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view or the belt feed lever shown in enlarged detail.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detail cross sectional View taken along the line -i--fi of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the belt feed lever.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the relationship between the belt feed lever and a belt of cartridges at the moment the 'front end of the lever is entering between the leading cartridge and the one adjacent thereto.

Fig. 7 is a perspective View similar to Fig. 6 but taken at the conclusion of counter-recoil movement of the bolt.

The belt feed lever of this invention is pivotally mounted on top of a firearm bolt and is provided with a forwardly disposed knife-like blade end. Such end cooperates with a cam provided on the cover of the firearm to provide a sideways motion to the belt feed lever as the bolt travels forwardly on the counter-recoil stroke. The knife-like end of the belt feed lever enters between the leading cartridge and the one adjacent thereto and as the bolt moves into battery position the belt of cartridges is moved sideways through the cooperation of the cover loam with the belt feed lever to advance the leading cartridge into position to be extracted from the belt on the recoil stroke of the firearm bolt.

There is shown in Fig. 1 a firearm embodying this invention. Such `hrearm comprises mainly a receiver I0 in which there is slidably mounted a bolt H for longitudinal reciprocating movement. A barrel jacket l2 is secured to the front end of receiver iii in suitable fashion and supports a barrel i3. A back plate ld containing a suitable bufer mechanism (not shown) closes the rear end of receiver iii. The top of receiver it is closed by a cover l5 hinged to the forward. end of receiver it by a transverse pin I6. A suitable latch El is provided to lock cover l5 in the closed position on receiver it.

.A belt feed lever It is pivotally secured near the rear end of bolt id by a vertically disposed screw I9. Belt feed lever it is a bar shaped member which terminates at the forward end in a knife-like blade portion 29 as shown in Fig. 3. On top of bolt l l near the left-hand side thereof there is provided a horizontally dispo-sed transverse recess 2 l. A helical spring 22 is contained within such recess. On the underside of belt fee-d lever Il there secured a vertically disposed pin 23. Pin 23 enters recess Qi and abuts one end of spring 22, such spring therefore biases lever i8 to the left side of bolt H. Pin 23 limits the sideways movement of lever l 3 by contacting the left end of recess 2i.

A vertically disposed hole 2t provided in bolt H accommodates a locking member 25 which locks bolt H to receiver it in the battery position of such bolt. A vertically disposed slot 25 provided in the forward end of bolt H accommodates an extractor 2l which is pivotaliy mounted on a transverse pin 28. Extractor 2l is utilized for extracting the leading cartridge from a linked belt 3.8 of cartridges 35.

Cover E5 is provided with a longitudinally disposed cam 29 which extends substantially the full length of such cover. The forward end of cam 2s is curved inwardly as shown at 3d. When cover i5 is in the closed position, spring 22/ biases blade 2i) of lever d against earn 29.

Bolt l! is unlocked from the locked position by an operating rod 3l. Such operating rod is contained within a tubular housing 32 mounted on the side of receiver iii as shown in Fig. 2 and in a gas cylinder Si. A portion of the gases produced by discharge of a cartridge are admitted through a gas port (not shown) in barrel I3 to l gas cylinder 33 through a gas tube 3E and a bracket (not shown) which surrounds barrel jacket l2.

Connection is made between operating rod 3l and bolt lock 25 in a, suitable manner so that bolt lock 25 can be unlocked from receiver l0 at the proper moment after discharge of a cartridge to unlockl bolt il from receiver IG. The means for locking the bolt to the receiver and the means for unlocking such bolt form no part of this invention and hence need not be further described here in greater detail.

Receiver l is provided with a transverse feedway 40 and a conventional spring-biased belt holding pawl 6I pivotally mounted adjacent the entrance to feedway 4B. Pawl 4I is arranged to be depressed by each of cartridges 39 which pass thereover and then spring up behind such cartridge to hold the entire belt 38 against retrograde movement.

With cover I5 in the closed position as shown in Fig. 1, bolt II may be manually retracted by an operating handle 36 provided on operating rod 3-I whereupon the leading cartridge 39 is eX- tracted from belt 38 and on the return of bolt II to battery position is inserted into barrel I3. Upon discharge of the chambered cartridge, bolt Il recoils after being unlocked by the operating rod 3| until it contacts the buffer mechanism contained in back plate I4, whereupon suitable driving springs (not shown) return the bolt to the battery position. On the counter-recoil stroke of the bolt, the blade portion of belt feed lever I8 rides along the longitudinal portion of cam 29 and enters between the leading cartridge 39 and the one adjacent thereto at a slightly higher elevation than the central axes of such cartridges. When blade 2@ has moved forwardly beyond the rear edges of the links surrounding these two cartridges, the curved portion 3G of cam 29 acts upon front edge of blade and thereby moves the entire belt 38 in the feeding direction along feedway 4G. Thus as bolt l I goes into battery position on the counterrecoil stroke, the belt of cartridges is fed over the proper amount whereby extractor 27 will be in position to extract the leading cartridge from the cartridge belt. Discharge of the cartridge which had been chambered in the barrel on the counter-recoil movement of the bolt repeats the cycle as above described, Belt feed pawl 4| serves to prevent movement of cartridge belt 38 out of feedway as belt feed lever I8 contacts the side of the foremost cartridge 39 during recoil movement of bolt I I.

From the foregoing description it is clearly a-pparent to those skilled in the art that there is here provided a belt feed lever of simplified design whic'n eliminates the usual transverse reciprocating cartridge feed slide. Furthermore, this belt feed lever is actuated by a simple and readily manufacturable cam contained in the cover of the receiver. The action of this belt feed lever is positive and unfailing in its ability to transfer the cartridge belt across the feedway of the firearm receiver.

I claim:

1. In an automatic firearm having a receiver, a bolt slidably mounted in the receiver for reciprocal movement, a feedway transversely disposed n the receiver and adapted to receive a linked belt of cartridges, a cover removably secured to the receiver to overlie said bolt and said feedway, a longitudinal cam depending from the underside of said cover and terminating in an inwardly curved portion at the front end thereof, a unitary belt feed lever pivotally secured at the rear end thereof to the rear top portion of said bolt for movement in the plane of the feedway, said bolt having a transverse slot in the top thereof, a spring seated in said slot, and a stud projecting from the underside of said belt feed lever for entry into said bolt slot in abutting relation with the outer end of said spring whereby said belt feed lever is normally urged into contact with said cam, all arranged and constructed whereby said belt feed lever is maintained parallel to the longitudinal axes of the cartridges during the counter-recoil movement of said bolt so as to pass between the leading cartridge and the one adjacent thereto until the front end of said belt feed lever contacts said inwardly curved portion of said cam and is pivoted thereby to move the belt of cartridges transversely across said feedway in the feeding direction.

2. In an automatic firearm having a receiver, a bolt slidably mounted in the receiver for reciprocal movement, a feedway transversely disposed in the receiver and adapted to support a linked belt of cartridges, a cover pivotally secured to the receiver to overlie said bolt and said feedway, a unitary belt feed lever pivotally secured at the rear end thereof to the rear top portion of said bolt, said belt feed lever having a knife-like forward portion for entering between the leading cartridge and the one adjacent thereto at a level slightly higher than the central axes thereof, a longitudinal cam depending from the underside of said cover and terminating in an inwardly curved portion at the front end thereof, spring means continually urging said belt feed lever into contact with said cam to lie substantially parallel to the longitudinal axes of the cartridges lying on said feedway, said inwardly curving portion of said cam being positioned to contact the front edge of said belt feed lever during the conclusion of counter-recoil movement of said bolt whereby said belt feed lever is pivoted in the plane of said feedway to move the belt therealong in the feeding direction for a distance substantially equivalent to the pitch distance between adjacent cartridges, and means for holding said belt against movement in the opposite direction on said feedway as said bolt recoils, said spring means being arranged to return said belt feed lever into contact with the longitudinal portion of said cam after having been withdrawn beyond the rear end of the leading cartridge in said feedway to thereby align said lever for the belt feeding movement of the following cycle of operation.

References Cited in thele of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,397,501 Meyer Apr. 2, 1946 2,436,937 Rataiczak Mar. 2, 1948 

